Cattle-guard for railroad-crossings



J. IHNAT.

CATTLE GUARD FOR RAILROAD CROSSINGS.

' APPLICATION FILED JAN. 22, 1921.

1,3 91,884=. Pawnw s'ept. 20,1921.

3 SHEETS-SHET 1.

FIG. 1. B

amulet attonwg J. IHNAT.

CATTLE GUARD FOR RAILROAD CHOSSINGS. APPLICATION FILED JAN. 22, 1921.

1,391,384. w PatentedSept. 20,1921.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

attouwg J. IHNATr CATTLE GUARD FOR RAILROAD CROSSINGS.

APPLICATION HLED JAN. 22, 1921.

Patented Sept. 20, 1921.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3- FIG. 5.

' UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOE man, or rmsnoa, MONTANA.

CATTLE-GUARD r03 RAILROAD-CROSSINGS.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, J on IHNAT, a citizen of Czechoslovakia, residing at Nashua, in the county-of Valley and State of Montana, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Cattle-Guards for Railroad- Grossings, of which the following is a speci-- fication. is V This invention relates to certain new and useful improvements in cattle guards for railroads and has particular reference to a cattle guard associated with a railroad crossing to prevent cattle in crossing a railroad from traveling along the tracks.

The primary object of the invention is to' provide a cattle guard or screen at each side of a'railroad crossing that normally assumes a horizontal position'at a point; below the track rails so as not'to interfere with a rail-- vide a cattle guard or' screen adjacent the crossover of arailroad that is adapted to be operated and raised to a perpendicular position when cattle in traveling over the crossover attempt to travel in either direction over the tracks at opposite sides of the crossover. 1 I

A still further object of the invention is to provide a cattle guard in the form of a lattice screen work normally assuming a horizontal position beneath the level of the track rails and adapted to be elevated to a perpendicular position by a resiliently mounted cross bar adjacent thecrossov'er when cattle attempt to leave the crossover and travel along the tracks.

With the above and other objects in View, the present invention consists in the novel form, combination and arrangement of parts Specification of Letters Patent. t te Sept 20, 1 21 Application filed January 22, 1921. Serial No. 439,210.

elevated to its operative position as shown by dottedlines,

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary top plan view of a portion of the trip device and cattle guard,

Fig. 5 is a lon itudinal sectional view taken on line V- of Fig. 2 showing the connections between thesections of the. trip device,

Fig. 6 is a fragmentary side elevational view of the trip device and a portion of the cattle guard elevated to its operative pos1t1on,

Figs. 7 and 8 are fragmentary perspective views of the sections ofthe trip device, and

- Fig. 9 is a fragmentary perspective view of a portion of the lever arm of the cattle guard detached fromits pivotalconnection with the trip device. H

Referring more in "detail to the accompanying drawings, and-particularly to Fig. 1, there is illustrated a railroad crossing A over which the,track rails 1 supported on ties Qpass with fence guards B. restricting the entrance/t0 the crossing.' The rails 1 adjacent the crossing A are supported on continuous cross ties 3. The cattle guards are positioned laterally of the inner supporting ties 3.and normally assume a horizontal position, the same being associated with trip devicesadapted to move the cattle guards to a perpendicular position as shown in Figs. 8 and 4 upon operation of the trip devices to prevent the travel of the cattle along the track.

The. trip device shown more clearly in Figs. 2 and 8 embodies a pair of telescoping members 4 and 5 of U-shape in cross section, the member 4 telescoping within the member 5 as shown in Figs. 2, 3, and 5. Coil springs 6 are interposed between the members 4 and 5 for normally holding the member 5 in the'elevated position shown in Fi 3, the

springs being confined at their en s by the studs 7 formed on the adjacent. faces ofthe opposite walls of said members. To guide the members 4 and 5 in their telescoping movements, the member 4 is provided with cut away portions 8 in the side walls thereof between which the struck out angularly bent flanges 9 of the side walls of the member 5 extend as shown in Fig. 5, thereby providing an interlocking connection between the telescoping members 4 and 5. A trip device is positioned at each side of the crossing beneath the track rails 1 outwardly of the central supporting ties 3 so that the cattle guards associated with the trip devices may be independently operated at the direct point of travel of the cattle, in line witheach track.

A transverse trip bar 9 is positioned outwardly of the trip devices at each side of the crossing A and is parallel therewith. The trip bar 9 is connected to the lower section 4 of the telescoping trip device, said section being provided with struck out angularly bent lugs 10 shown more clearly in Figs. 3 and 8 that are secured by bolts 11 to the bar 9 while the upper'face of the bar is provided with a metallic head strip 12 as shown in Fig. 3, the strips being secured to the bar by bolts or other fastening devices13. V

The cattle guard embodies a plurality of lever arms 14 carrying cross slats 15 with the inner ends of the lever arms provided with bearings 16 for pivotal mounting in r v the side lugs 17 formed upon the upper edge ofthe section I 5 of the trip device. The upper face of the lever arms 14 adjacent the bearings 16 are provided with abutment lugs 18 for purposes presently to appear. 1

In the normal inoperative positions of the cattle guard sections, the same lie in a plane beneath the upper edge of the track rails 1 with the upper section 5 of the trip device moved to its limit of upward movement by the expansion springs 6 while the guard sections connected thereto restlupon the head rail 12 of the cross trip bar 9 The crossing A is unobstructed for transverse passage, but should. cattle attempt to travel along either of the tracks, the section 5 of the trip device will be lowered against the tension of the springs 6 and carry therewith the pivotedinner ends 16 of the guard lever arms 14:, the guard arms engaging thecross bar 9 to be moved to a perpendicular position as indicated by dotted lines in Fig. 3, the abutment lugs .18 engaging the upper 'to elevate the guard with the trip devices for each trackat opposite sides of the crossin being independently operable. TVhile there is herein shown and described whatis believed to be the preferred embodiment of the invention, it is nevertheless to be understood that IIllIlOI changes may be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as hereinafter claimed.

What is claimed as new is: 7

A cattle guard for railroad crossings comprising a resilient trip device formed of telescoping sections of U-shape in cross section, interlocking connections between thetele'scoping sections including cut-out portions in the side walls of the lower stationary section for receiving struck-out angularly bent flanges ofthe side walls of the upper sliding section, pairs of lugs carried by the upper edge of one section, a guard frame pivotally mounted in said lugs and means disposed beneath said guard frame to move the same from a horizontal to a perpendicu- 5 lar position upon sliding movement of the telescoping sections, said means including a transverse bar fixed to one of the telescoping sections. I

In testimony whereof I afiix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

JOE IHNAT.

Witnesses:

E.T. Pn'rnnson, V J. G. Jomqson. 

